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Has anyone ever FM DX'ed across Lake Michigan from Chicago?

It's not just distance, but the rising terrain as you go inland, that affects the signals. It shadows the more inland signals near the shoreline, and favors the inland cochannel and adjacent signals as you get further inland. WOMC 104.3 is grandfathered with 190000 watts ERP, and puts a lot more interference out than the 50 kW Class Bs. Because they tend conk out faster with low ERP behind hills and beyond the horizon, you may find that happening. And legacy Hancock facilities have higher ERPs than legacy Sears facilities ERPs. The low ERP of WBBM-FM vs. WLXT 96.3 Petoskey causes WLXT to dominate in airliners in the region, FAA scofflaw FM DXers report. That Eton Elite Mini would be a good choice with the lower OSC frequency if you could convince the FAA that it's totally safe. Decent sensitivity and selectivity and pocket sized.

Once, when WLS-TV 7 and WTTW 11 were still on lower towers with 316 kW ERP, they came in clear as a bell during a major tropospheric ducting event in Genesee County, MI. It was in July, 1970 I believe. WTTW was clearest due to relatively little cochannel interference, WTOL 11 vs. WXYZ-TV 7 being much closer. WGN-TV 9 was only 112 kW on Hancock Center at the time, and though there was little interference from CKLW-TV 9 and WWTV, it was third strongest of the 5 VHFs. I didn't have my Sony yet, so the only FM radio available was part of the AM/FM/TV/Turntable Cabinet.
 
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I remember hearing WJMK (oldies) across the lake in western Michigan. I listened to them all the way on my drive from the Chicago area. There was very little interference and they still came in well when I got to the other side of the lake. This was in the 90s, but I think they were already on the Sears Tower by then.
 
Not recently, but WJEF used to come in from time to time at my home location in Crystal Lake. 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. "Time to time" meaning perhaps a half dozen times each year. As posted previously, at my first home in Crystal Lake in the late 1970s, I had an antenna rotor on the roof, and I could aim it east and pick up WKZO-TV on channel 3 from Kalamazoo. Swing it northwest and get WISC-TV from Madison, WI on Channel 3. Both were CBS affiliates, and using the rotor greatly enhanced my enjoyment of NFL football F Sundays. Flipping back and forth between Packers and Lions games.
 
cyberdad said:
Not recently, but WJEF used to come in from time to time at my home location in Crystal Lake. 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. "Time to time" meaning perhaps a half dozen times each year. As posted previously, at my first home in Crystal Lake in the late 1970s, I had an antenna rotor on the roof, and I could aim it east and pick up WKZO-TV on channel 3 from Kalamazoo. Swing it northwest and get WISC-TV from Madison, WI on Channel 3. Both were CBS affiliates, and using the rotor greatly enhanced my enjoyment of NFL football F Sundays. Flipping back and forth between Packers and Lions games.
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WJEF in Lafayette IN?
 
At one time early on, 93.7 in Grand Rapids had the call letters WJEF-FM, then WJFM, now WBCT. The AM was on 1230. It used to be 500000 watts horizontal polarization ERP, now due to practical equipment reasons, it's 320000 watts circular polarization ERP.
 
radioman148 said:
I remember hearing WJMK (oldies) across the lake in western Michigan. I listened to them all the way on my drive from the Chicago area. There was very little interference and they still came in well when I got to the other side of the lake. This was in the 90s, but I think they were already on the Sears Tower by then.
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WJMK and WFMT (98.7) have historically been the best signals in Crystal Lake from downtown Chicago. Not by all that much, but definitely noticeable.
 
WFMT is grandfathered at 6 kW at 470 meters HAAT. It has always been over power for their height, in various changes. It’s confusing with stations moving from Hancock to Sears, and the change of the ERP reduction with height changes. Normally, it would be 4.3 kW at 470 meters.
 
Schroedingers Cat said:
WFMT is grandfathered at 6 kW at 470 meters HAAT. It has always been over power for their height, in various changes. It’s confusing with stations moving from Hancock to Sears, and the change of the ERP reduction with height changes. Normally, it would be 4.3 kW at 470 meters.
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I knew that. I seem to remember in the 1960s, WFMT was grandfathered in at 35kw from on top of some tall building whose name escapes me. If my memory is accurate, I believe that was more power....if not also more height....than other downtown Chicago FMs.
 
cyberdad said:
I knew that. I seem to remember in the 1960s, WFMT was grandfathered in at 35kw from on top of some tall building whose name escapes me. If my memory is accurate, I believe that was more power....if not also more height....than other downtown Chicago FMs.
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When they were on Hancock 360 Chicago, they were 15.5 kW/357 meters. When they moved, they had to reduce not only for the increased height, but as a Grandfathered Superpower station under Section 73.213, they also had to stay within the previous 60 dBu (I think it's still 60 dBu and not 54 dBu) contour. "The rest is still (un?)written" on the History Card.


The front page of the History Card is missing, so the TL Descriptions aren't there. It was grandfathered at 135 kW from 550 feet originally. Then it went to 45 kW from 820 feet, which sounds like the one WJJD-FM was on.

130 E. Randolph St. was where WJJD-FM/WJEZ was located. N 41 53 05 W 87 37 23

 
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Schroedingers Cat said:
When they were on Hancock 360 Chicago, they were 15.5 kW/357 meters. When they moved, they had to reduce not only for the increased height, but as a Grandfathered Superpower station under Section 73.213, they also had to stay within the previous 60 dBu (I think it's still 60 dBu and not 54 dBu) contour. "The rest is still (un?)written" on the History Card.


The front page of the History Card is missing, so the TL Descriptions aren't there. It was grandfathered at 135 kW from 550 feet originally. Then it went to 45 kW from 820 feet, which sounds like the one WJJD-FM was on.

130 E. Randolph St. was where WJJD-FM/WJEZ was located. N 41 53 05 W 87 37 23

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I remember WJJD/WJEZ being at 130 E. Randolph (in a very nondescript building), I worked with a guy who had been in sales for WJJD, and he told me most of the jocks were working at the AM transmitter site in Des Plaines.

I'm not sure if WJEZ personnel were located in Des Plaines. I recall WJEZ as being automated. (Personally, I thought they had a great format....easy listening country. I liked it). I remember when they were WSEL at 104.3, but I don't remember them being at grandfathered power (I couldn't open the link).
 
Superpower grandfathered stations are addressed in 47 CFR Part 73.211, not Part 73.213. It was too late to edit when I looked to see if it still is 1 mV/m (60 dBu) and not the theoretically protected 0.5 mV/m 54 dBu Class B or 57 dBu Class B1 (there wouldn't be any, as they were created much later). It basically says 1 mV/m for all classes.

I think later they moved the Studio to Des Plaines (The rain in Maine falls mainly on Des Plaines...;)).
 
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cyberdad said:
I remember WJJD/WJEZ being at 130 E. Randolph (in a very nondescript building), I worked with a guy who had been in sales for WJJD, and he told me most of the jocks were working at the AM transmitter site in Des Plaines.

I'm not sure if WJEZ personnel were located in Des Plaines. I recall WJEZ as being automated. (Personally, I thought they had a great format....easy listening country. I liked it). I remember when they were WSEL at 104.3, but I don't remember them being at grandfathered power (I couldn't open the link).
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I believe WJJD moved their studios from downtown to Des Plaines sometime in the early 60s. It might have been soon after they moved
the transmitter to the Ballard Rd site. Maybe SC remembers what year they moved their transmitter.
 
The History Card says WJJD was licensed at 2355 Ballard Rd. on 3-8-65, after having moved to Des Plaines from Mooseheart in 1935.

There are various Real Estate descriptions of the site in Des Plaines, eventually the address became 8707 Ballard Rd.

My Uncle told me there used to be a tower near Greenwood Ave. and Ballard Rd. about 3 miles from where he lived, but that it was now a shopping center. The signal where he lived was on the order of 400 mV/m. The first thing I remember suggesting that was that the signal was loud and clear on my Rocket Radio. I don't know in retrospect why it didn't come in on every device in the house. But they had a house full of old tube radios, and his KLH Model Twenty was FM only. The electric company possibly put band reject filters on the houses, since it was outside the 1 V/m contour. The tubes weren't always detecting stray RF. At my home in Genesee County, MI, a 100 mV/m signal and another one near 100 mV/m came in on many devices, including the Remco Caravelle, which couldn't be turned off except by removing the ground wire from the water pipe. Very faint, but there.

WJJD History Card.


Classic KLH Model Twenty.

Vintage_KLH_Model_Twenty_Stereophonic_Music_System,_Style_No._3X204,_Control_Section_Only,_FM_Band_Radio_&_Garrard_Turntable,_Made_In_USA,_Circa_1965_(36005034374).jpg

One Prudential Plaza. 912 feet AGL to top of antenna tower.

 
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Schroedingers Cat said:
The History Card says WJJD was licensed at 2355 Ballard Rd. on 3-8-65, after having moved to Des Plaines from Mooseheart in 1935.

There are various Real Estate descriptions of the site in Des Plaines, eventually the address became 8707 Ballard Rd.

My Uncle told me there used to be a tower near Greenwood Ave. and Ballard Rd. about 3 miles from where he lived, but that it was now a shopping center.
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I see they were licensed for 50KW DA in 1946. I remember early on during their Top 40 days they had a Chicago phone number. Then sometime in the early 60s they switched to a suburban number. I stopped listening around 1961--62 as their playlist was getting too MOR for me. WLS blew them away in the ratings. I lived about 6 miles away and their signal was gigantic on all my radios. A friend had a crystal radio that received only WJJD. No other station was strong enough.
 
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radioman148 said:
I see they were licensed for 50KW DA in 1946. I remember early on during their Top 40 days they had a Chicago phone number. Then sometime in the early 60s they switched to a suburban number. I stopped listening around 1961--62 as their playlist was getting too MOR for me. WLS blew them away in the ratings. I lived about 6 miles away and their signal was gigantic on all my radios. A friend had a crystal radio that received only WJJD. No other station was strong enough.
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In November, WJJD signed off quite early, and WGN came in on the Hear Ever Rocket Radio. Seems like WBBM should have too. WGN and WBBM were just about synchronized, and sometimes ran the same spots at EXACTLY the same time. Maybe that's why, perhaps just heard WGN call letters. Advertisers were obsessed with running their spots at exact times, at least in a market as large as Chicago, apparently. FM, especially "Free Form", "Progressive", "Underground", etc., in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was way too relaxed and lackadaisical for many adverstisers.

hearever-crystal-rocket-radio-box_1_cb9921795c6e2d4a802bde0437f426c3.jpg
 
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Schroedingers Cat said:
In November, WJJD signed off quite early, and WGN came in on the Hear Ever Rocket Radio. Seems like WBBM should have too. WGN and WBBM were just about synchronized, and sometimes ran the same spots at EXACTLY the same time. Maybe that's why, perhaps just heard WGN call letters. Advertisers were obsessed with running their spots at exact times, at least in a market as large as Chicago, apparently. FM, especially "Free Form", "Progressive", "Underground", etc., in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was way too relaxed and lackadaisical for many adverstisers.

hearever-crystal-rocket-radio-box_1_cb9921795c6e2d4a802bde0437f426c3.jpg
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WJJD used to play the Top 40 on weekday afternoon drive time. When I'd listen in the late 50s they had to shorten the survey during the late fall and early winter months.
 
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